1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a non-metallic fuel tank which fits in the location normally used for storing the spare tire and which increases the fuel capacity of a vehicle.
2. Background Art
All vehicles have a limited capacity fuel tank. For basic everyday driving, the limited capacity of the fuel tank is not normally an issue. There are many situations, however, where the limited capacity of a vehicle's fuel tank may become an issue. For example, larger vehicles such as pickup trucks burn a lot more fuel than a small vehicle commuting to and from an office. These vehicles may also travel in areas where there are no fuel stations. This makes additional fuel capacity a necessity in many situations.
In order to increase the fuel capacity of a vehicle, people have designed transfer fuel tanks. These transfer fuel tanks have been around for decades.
Transfer fuel tanks are secondary fuel tanks that may be placed in other locations of the vehicle. For example, a secondary fuel tank could be placed in the bed of a truck. As the fuel level drops in the original fuel tank, the transfer fuel tank is accessed by the vehicle automatically or by a switch.
Many transfer fuel tanks fit into the bed of a vehicle such as a pickup truck. These tanks, however, take a lot of room in the bed of the pickup and therefore, leave very little room for hauling large objects which is the reason that many people own pickup trucks. Therefore, a transfer fuel tank that fits where the spare tire is normally located on a vehicle is very desirable.
Also, owners of pickup trucks often put aftermarket wheels and tires on their trucks. These aftermarket wheels and tires are not the same size as the standard wheels and tires on the pickup truck and therefore the standard spare cannot be used on the pickup truck. The larger spare which would be required to fit the aftermarket wheels is often too large to fit into the location normally used for storing the spare tire and therefore the space used for holding the spare tire is unused. Therefore, the space normally used for the spare tire is ideal for storing a transfer tank on these pickup trucks.
A few fuel tanks have been disclosed which would fit in the spare tire location. For example, Beem, U.S. Publication No. 2012/0043320, (hereinafter referred to as the “Beem tank”) discloses a deformable fuel tank that fits in place of the spare tire. The tank in the Beem application contains a pump and pumps the fuel into the fuel system of the vehicle. The tank deforms in order to allow the tank to collapse in on itself as fuel is pumped from the tank. This deformability, however, reduces the life of the tank and makes it prone to leaking. Also, unlike, the spare tire location on a vehicle such as a car, the spare tire location on trucks is not carpeted and often has protrusions extending into the spare tire location which could tear or puncture the Beem tank.
Engdahl, U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,678, (hereinafter referred to as the “Engdahl tank”) discloses a metal fuel tank that replaces the spare tire. It is coupled into place by a long bolt and a wing nut such as is often used to hold spare tires into place. The fuel tank does not contain its own pump, but is instead coupled to a switch and placed in series with the vehicle's main fuel tank. Fuel is pumped from the spare tire tank directly into the vehicle's fuel system.
The Engdahl tank, however, is formed in the shape and size of a spare tire and fits into the spare tire location exactly wasting a lot of space around the edges of the spare tire location which could be used to store additional fuel.
The Engdahl tank is also made from metal. Metal tanks have many problems including their weight and corrodibility.
Accordingly, what is needed is a durable non-metallic spare tire fuel tank that is lightweight and corrosion resistant and which maximizes the available room for fuel storage.